The British Haiku Society Awards, 2025

Thrilled to receive the following award:

distant slopes

turning blue at twilight

the soft folds

of this tweed blanket draped

around father's shoulders

Runner-up, The Linda Jeannette Ward Tanka Award

Judge's comments:

I was struck by the poet's apt use of natural imagery. The mountains are losing their shape and form as night begins to settle in. Pairing this image with the soft folds of the blanket (draped around father's shoulders) was so evocative. A fine tanka.

—Alan Peat

Snapshot Press, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2026

Award Winner, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2026 (for March)

Publication - The Haiku Calendar 2027 (Snapshot Press 2026)

sugar maples

small boys running

until they can't

Shortlisted for the Best-of-Issue Award in Presence 81

Romanian Kukai Group, Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest, 2026

Thrilled to receive 3rd Place in this year's contest

ragged clouds

the sleeping bag inside

a refrigerator box

3rd Place

Sharpening the Green Pencil, 2026

Judge's comments:

One might be tempted to read this as an "as above, so below" haiku — but I see it operating in the opposite direction, along the lines of a certain couplet by the visionary poet William Blake (from "Auguries of Innocence"): "The Beggar's Rags, fluttering in Air, / Does to Rags the Heavens tear." This haiku may represent an even more stinging opprobrium, with the time-release power of its purer "show, don't tell" approach.

—Scott Mason

The Haiku Foundation: HaikuLife Film Festival 2026

This haiga video, comprised of previously published poems, was created to celebrate The Haiku Foundation's International Haiku Poetry Day HaikuLife Film Festival on April 17, 2026:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldtmbxtVQoA

Haiku Ink

(with recitation)

The Haiku Foundation: Haiku of the Day (formerly Per Diem), April 2026

Selected by Anju Kishore for the theme of "Peace": April 16, 2026

hummingbird you lose the point of your story

Wales Haiku Journal, Autumn 2025

The Haiku Foundation: EarthRise Rolling Haiku Collaboration, April 2026

Theme: International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists

cattle roundup

a charred bean can

full of rain

1st Place (joint)

Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest, 2024

Blithe Spirit, Volume 3, Number 2, May 2026

shelf clouds

a lone oak pins our farm

to the map

the suchness

of oncoming sorrow

we knew

your ship was leaving,

but could not say when

Heliosparrow Poetry Journal, April 2026

Featured April 18, 2026:

I Am

Haiga in Focus, Issue 92, April 2026

 Curated by Claudia Brefeld

Translated into German

Honoured to have the following haiga selected as the Editor's Choice:

Claudia's Commentary:

This haiga is a fine example of how a work unfolds gradually — yet without ever allowing itself to be fully grasped. At first glace, the connection between the haiku and the image may not be immediately apparent. However, when one considers that 'skyquake' can also be translated as 'sky trumpets', a point of intersection emerges between the haiku and the image. Skyquakes are described as a mysterious phenomenon (a loud bang that seems to come from the sky), which appears to have various causes but has never really been clearly explained. And the clouds in the sky? Are they unaffected  by the events (split apart/come together), or are they part of the events?

This creates a space for interpretation that is not too vast, but just large enough to be filled  with one's own associations and conjectures.

Fireflies' Light: A Magazine of Short Poems, Issue 33, April 2026

 

Note: this tanka was first published in Red Lights 20.1, January 2024 (I inadvertently omitted the last word of the first line in this tanka art version - the sacred fire)

Note: this tanka was first published in GUSTS 25, Spring/Summer 2017

Note: this tanka was first published in Kokako 42, April 2025

Note: this tanka was first published in GUSTS 28, Fall/Winter 2018

World Haiku, Number 22, 2026

Translated into Japanese

bag lady

a halo of pigeons

circling her head

garden rookery

the sycamore fills

with shadows

laden branches

chickadees displaces

a thousand stars

Note: these haiku previously appeared in Geppo

Turf Cottage: Haiku and Senryu from the pages of Tsuri-Doro, 2026

Honoured to have the following work selected by the editor, Tony Pupello, for inclusion in the 2026 anthology!

banshee fog

a barn owl summons

the night

new-fallen snow

the traces of things

unseen

 

Prune Juice, Issue 48, April 2026

theremin

hands that know the shape

of sound

fidget spinner whirlygigging into ataraxia

Presence, Number 84, March 2026

hand-to-mouth

nothing for the sun to eat

except snow

a sea lion

lolling on the rocks . . .

dad's snore strips

off-grid cabin

bog beacon fungus

lights up the duff

arctic tundra

scoured by easterlies

once again

the caribou herd finds

another patch of lichen

Our Best Haiga: Black and White Haiga/Haisha, April 2026

 Curated by Lavana Kray

April 9, 2026: "onion" feature (included among Selected Best/Onion for April) 

(note: this haiku first appeared in Akitsu Quarterly, Summer 2018)

April 25, 2026: collaboration - photo by Claudia Brefeld/senryu by me

Noon: Journal of the Short Poem, Issue 28, March 2026

glacial flour the braided river unbraids

crepuscular\rays\backslashing\into\sky\code

NeverEnding Story: Biting NOT Barking Series, March 2026

Translated into Chinese by Chen-ou Liu:

refugee train

small hands starfished

against the glass

1st Place, 2024 Triveni Awards

Chen-ou Liu's Comments:

The haiku places a heavy, geopolitical subject ("refugee train," L1) against a fragile, personal one ("small hands," L2). this contrast—the massive, moving machine versus the stationary, tiny hands—is a classic haiku technique for creating depth.

The verb, "starfished," is the emotional anchor of the haiku. It creates a stark, physical image of small fingers spread wide, suggesting vulnerability, a search for stability, or a desperate attempt to connect with the world passing by.

And the glass in L3 acts effectively as both a literal and figurative barrier. It highlights the "othering" of the refugee experience—the children are visible to the world, yet physically separated from safety or a permanent home.

Leaf Journal, Issue 9, April 2026

lacking agency : autumn leaves in the wind

homestead

the icicles taller

than we were

liquid sunshine

a prairie rainbow

in the making

Thrilled to have the following haiga selected as one of the Editor's Choices by haiga editor, Ron Moss!

Commentary:

I have had the pleasure of seeing many of Debbie Strange's creative haiga and "tree resin" is another gem. The stunning autumn shades of the leaf and surrounds are delightful to the eye. The clever link of a honeybee's wings to the flat leaf is easily connected and gives the haiga a complete feeling and resonance. The gold frame and tasteful signature on the side captures all the elements in a lovely design.

Haiku Canada Review, Volume 20, Number 1, February 2026

wheelchair ramp

the mountain continues

to grow

lynx and hare

mother's doctor cuts

to the chase

First Frost, #11, Spring 2026

the foxtails

sweep off your grave . . .

chinook wind

wet footprints

a map

on the cabin floor

#FemkuMag, Issue 41, Spring 2026

My thanks to guest editor, Vandana Parashar, for inclusion in this International Women's Month issue!

hurkle-durkle

it's been that kind

of morning

genocide

flags of olive leaves

at half-mast

Enchanted Garden Haiku Journal, Issue 15, Emerald, April 2026

Translated into Romanian

the moss

on an angel's wing . . .

vespers

Thrilled to receive an Editor's Choice for the following haiga!

Commentary by the editor, Steliana Voicu:

What a lovely effect of the leaves, and the picture seems to be imprinted with movement. The leaves may suggest the movement of the special tea brush for a tea ceremony. For me, matcha has a strong, intense flavor - this tea doesn't leave you indifferent. The tea moment is calm and tranquil - it smells like spring, it tastes like spring. This haiga is so vibrant and savoury. Thank you for enchanting us, dear Debbie!

Dadakuku, April 2026

Identity Politics

labelling culture : even the bipolar butterfly nebula

Contemporary Haibun Online, Issue 22.1, April 2026

Haiga Gallery: selected by Ron Moss

Circle of Salt, March 2026

Wave Maidens

Chrysanthemum, Number 36, April 2026

Translated into German

Akitsu Quarterly, Spring/Summer 2026

first robins

the pillar-to-post

of their songs

bird's nest fungi

the eggs that wait

for rain

sun showers

one cloud pinned

to the clothesline

Acorn, Number 56, Spring 2026

cloudfall

mother's face softens

into sleep

The Abstractaphy Initiative: aBstractaphy-from the palETTE, journalette 10 - March 28, 2026

 Curated by Tish Davis

(note: this haiga first appeared in Haigaonline, Volume 21, #2, August 2020)

The Abstractaphy Initiative, March 2026

 Curated by Richard Grahn

(note: this haiga first appeared in black and white in World Haiku, #17, 2021)

(note: this haiga first appeared in Haigaonline, Volume 21, #2, August 2020)

(note: this haiga first appeared in Prune Juice, Issue 41, December 2023)

Our Best Haiga: Black and White Haiga/Haisha, March 2026

Curated by Lavana Kray

March 16, 2026

(note: this haiku was shortlisted for the Best-of-Issue Award in Presence 78)

March 20, 2026: "rust" feature

(note: this haiku received the Museum of Haiku Literature Award for Best-of-Issue in Blithe Spirit 30.2)

 

Our Best Haiga: Black and White Haiga/Haisha, February 2026

 Curated by Lavana Kray

February 2, 2026

(note: this haiku was voted as one of the best in Geppo L:1, February 2025, for the previous issue, & the haiga appeared in colour in the December 2025 YTHS Holiday Haiga Celebration)

February 7, 2026

Honoured that this haiga was selected as one of the best haiga/haisha submitted in February, 2026!

(note: this senryu received an Honourable Mention in the 2024 H. Gene Murtha Contest, and the haiga first appeared in colour in The Abstractaphy Initiative, August 2024)

February 14, 2026: "door" feature

(note: this haiga first appeared in colour in Failed Haiku, Vol. 6, Issue 62, Feb/21)

February 18, 2026

(note: this haiku received 3rd place in the 2025 New Zealand Poetry Society International Competition)

Our Best Haiga: Black and White Haiga/Haisha, January 2026

 Curated by Lavana Kray

January 9, 2026

(note: this tanka received a Commendation in the 2020 Climate Change, the Burning Issue Contest)

January 15, 2026: "stone" feature

(note: this haiga first appeared in colour in Fireflies' Light 25, 2022)

Wales Haiku Journal, Winter 2025-2026

winter solstice

an irruption of snowy owls

lights the darkness

Waka Society of America, Songbirds Anthology, 2026

misty blue

nigella sways against

a stone wall . . .

the seeds of love we kept,

and those we gave away

barred owls

pair-bonded for life

sometimes

the eyes say everything

that needs to be said

Tsuri-doro: A Small Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Issue #32, March/April 2026

the vee

of an osprey's wings . . .

peace talks

Tsuri-doro: A Small Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Issue #31, January/February 2026

raku tea bowl

a crack in the one

that was yours

Triya Mag: Basant Edition, February/March 2026

Translated into Hindi

palliative care

a branch of loquat flowers

our light in the dark

Honourable Mention, 2025 Tokutomi Haiku Contest

how fragrant

this parched earth

after rain

I can almost

hear the roses

growing

Cherita Lighthouse Award, The Cherita, Book 94

Trash Panda, Volume 10, Winter 2026

badlands

I step on the tail

of a dinosaur

Haiku Canada Review 19.1, 2025

food bank

the chipmunk's cheeks

half-full

Creatrix 70, 2025

 

Time Haiku, Number 63, February 2026

waterfalls

tumble onto the beach . . .

a sea wolf

catches my eye between

veils of shadow and light

lumber camp

a wood tick burrows

deeper

puddingstones

the heirlooms passed

from parent to child

meteor showers

our faces wet

with dew

koyo there is no other name for it

Onions in Moonlight: Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology 2025

withered leaves

filigreed with frost . . .

all the time

it takes to transform

tarnish into silver

The Take 5ive Journal, January 2026

we slip

into drab mourning clothes

recalling how

you loved the aspens

and their mantles of gold

time

is of the essence

they say . . .

I did not know what

that meant until now

sepia hills . . .

all that remains is this

stone stairway

connecting the present

to a stranger's past

driving by

our old homestead to see

what remains . . .

bullet-riddled windows

shatter me to the bone

softened

by bluestem grasses

the sharp edge

of this prairie bluff

where we laid you down

Sonic Boom, January 2026

 

Sommergras: Magazine of the German Haiku Society, Issue 151, December 2025

Translated into German

Honoured to have the following collaborative haiga included in this issue:

photograph: Claudia Brefeld

haiku: Debbie Strange

Smols, March 2026

 

Turtle Dreams: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2025

eulogy

the blur of water

over stones

Frogpond 48.1, 2025

Quail Eggs: A Tanka Journal, Issue 4, March 2026

we pop the top

of our old campervan

on this still night

not a hint of wind, yet

every star is twinkling

Petrichor, Number 29, Pebbles Volume 6, January 2026

Password: Journal of Very Short Poetry, Issue 3.1, February 2026